Natural catastrophes still remain the principal cause of destruction on Earth. But these so-called “Acts of God” are not the only risks to which our societies are exposed: there are also “Acts of Man”, “Acts of the Devil” and the constant mutations and interactions between them.

The incident, publicly disclosed in December 2017, occurred when hackers successfully infiltrated the critical safety systems of an unidentified industrial facility, reported to be located in Saudi Arabia.

The current political environment is like nothing we've seen in the past decades

Frieder Knüpling, Chief Risk Officer of SCOR, talks about the key threats to the insurance industry presented by political instability at the 14th Annual Round Table of Chief Risk Officers (ART of CROs), hosted by MAPFRE in Madrid from 10-12 May 2017.

He explains that the insurance industry is facing “much more sudden and much more fundamental short-term political changes, which can have profound implications on the way we are operating and conducting our business.”

The Annual Round Table of Chief Risk Officers (CROs), organized by the Geneva Association, is a platform to discuss the roles, objectives and tasks of CROs. It provides a network to exchange experiences and discuss specific risk problems.

“Geopolitical uncertainty, the rise of protectionism and populism pose new challenges to societies and industries. Powerful political trends, fueled by societal changes, technological advancement, globalization and migration, influence each other in complex ways, and can have significant macro-economic consequences. The prevailing political environment has a significant impact on how re/insurers operate, so risk managers should respond to this current period of instability and uncertainty with new approaches”.